Alamogordo finally reached 25 points in a set during district play. Unfortunately, they could only do it once.

Alamogordo lost to Oñate 3-1 on Thursday night at the Tiger Pit, 23-25, 25-23, 15-25 and 21-25. During their first meeting Oct. 8, Oñate steamrolled the Tigers as Alamogordo lost two of their sets by double-digits. On Senior Night, the Tigers had a little more bite to them.

In the first set, Oñate started early on double-team blocks for their front line, but it was not effective and as the Knights would misplay the ball that resulted in simple points for the Tigers. Still, early in the set, both teams couldn't get much separation. In fact, the set was tied at 5, 7,11 and 16.

The Tigers again had to deal with the length of the front line of Oñate, which was not has enforcing as other teams Alamogordo has faced this year. Down 16-18, Alamogordo used teamwork, along with mental mistakes by Oñate's backline, to tie the game at 20 as the Tigers were looking for their first set victory in district play.

With the set tied at 22, Oñate was starting to feel the pressure. The Knights were starting to get a little tense as they started making mistakes on serves and passes, but their mistakes did not result in points as their teammates picked up their errors. Tigers did not feel the pressure, but at the very end of the set, a kill was misplayed by the back line of Tigers, giving the Knights the set.

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"I think we just fell apart at the end of the games because we played very well throughout all of them," senior middle hitter Alyssa Monrreal said. "We kept it pretty close. We just fell short at the end."

The second set was again close. Although Alamogordo was down early in the set, they were not out. After tying the game at 10, the Knights pulled away leading 10-13, but Alamogordo would improve their net play and tied the game at 14.

With the game tied at 17, Oñate started to use their size to pull ahead 21-17 as their front line was blocking anything the Tigers tried at the net. Alamogordo, however, would use their teamwork and smart volleyball play to pull within 21-19.

Oñate tried to pull away, but the Tigers hung close, eventually tying the set at 23. With Alamogordo up 24-23, sophomore middle hitter Lauren Guinn killed the ball into open space and the Tigers earned their first set victory in district play this season.

"We finally pulled through and played together as a team," Monrreal said. "We played more as one in that game."

In the third set, Oñate came out ready to avenge their loss as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead. Alamogordo came close making it 11-9, thanks to some sloppy play by Oñate. After the Tigers pulled to within two, the Knights proved why they have 12 victories on the season. They used their speed and power, particularly on their front line, to overwhelm the Tigers. The Knights would lead 20-12 and would finish off the Tigers in the third set.

"We got too much of a gap. We let them come in on us," senior libero Lexi Borunda said. "We just didn't handle it well."

In the fourth set, both teams could not pull away from each other. Oñate was using its size to get points while opened up some breathing room, but the Knights would hang in tough, as they never fell too far behind. Thanks to the limited size of the Tigers, Alamogordo led the set 19-16.

The Knights woke up and flexed their muscles as their front line, led by juniors Brandi Tirado and Alexandra Lara, proved to be too much for the Alamogordo squad, who was playing their first non-straight sets match since Deming in late September. The Knights would go from down three to up four. The Tigers tried to come back, but the Knights just had a little bit more in them.

"I thought we did a good job at giving ourselves a chance at every game," head coach Henry Gettler said." I thought it was our best team performance. Sometimes, girls just take longer to find each other. Some teams find each other right away. For us, it is just a slow growing process."